The GDP, Small Business and Health Insurance Reform | The White House

by Jesse Lee

This afternoon the President took to the South Court of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building to speak about small business . And as important to the identity and history of America as small businesses are in their own right, it is also the case that they are at the heart of the two issues dominating the news today. 

The first issue is today’s encouraging news regarding the growth in Gross Domestic Product, as discussed by CEA Chair Christina Romer this morning. As stark a turnaround as this news represents from the past year, it will be in large part small business who convert this growth into actual jobs over the coming months, and indeed it can’t be said enough how much work there is left to do.

The second issue is the one we have heard so much about over the past months: health insurance reform. But now, with the smoke of the partisan attacks and bickering having begun to clear, it is worth thinking again about the very real and very positive impact reform can have on small business – an impact also fleshed out this morning in a new report posted here .

The President’s word on the GDP numbers:

I am gratified that our economy grew in the third quarter of this year.  We've come a long way since the first three months of 2009, when our economy shrunk by an alarming 6.4 percent.  In fact, the 3.5 percent growth in the third quarter is the largest three-month gain we have seen in two years.  This is obviously welcome news and an affirmation that this recession is abating and the steps we've taken have made a difference.

But I also know that we got a long way to go to fully restore our economy and recover from what's been the longest and deepest downturn since the Great Depression.  And while this report today represents real progress, the benchmark I use to measure the strength of our economy is not just whether our GDP is growing, but whether we're creating jobs, whether families are having an easier time paying their bills, whether our businesses are hiring and doing well.  And that's what I'm here to talk with you about today.

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